


Important Job

by Summer_Dusk



Category: Xenoblade Chronicles 2 (Video Game)
Genre: Afternoon Naps, Fireflies, Gen, Sunburns, ambiguous timeline, author's notes contain endgame spoilers for a certain titan nation, quick travel is canon?, we got playing in the water, went full summer vibes with this one
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-18
Updated: 2018-08-18
Packaged: 2019-06-29 05:05:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,356
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15722574
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Summer_Dusk/pseuds/Summer_Dusk
Summary: Thanks to Nia's intervention Mòrag is stuck with watch duty at Coolley Lake to make sure that Sulya and his new refugee friends won't get attacked by any monsters. Considering the world's current state though, Mòrag feels like they should have more important things to take care of...





	Important Job

**Author's Note:**

> So I was playing the game and you know how NPC dialogue changes with the chapters, right? And I was talking to Sulya by the lake during chapter 10 and he told me how he wanted to teach the refugee kids swimming to distract them from their worries? That was the boy you collected buoyweed for and who struggled with learning how to swim and I found that SO cute?? Like what kind of character development for an NPC...
> 
> So obviously I wanted to do something with that piece of information. Timeline wise this fic doesn't make much sense seeing how Indol must have sunk for the party to know about this and for Sulya to take action, soooo quick travel is canon? XD Or the events played out a BIT differently? You decide guys... I just wanted some light-hearted summer banter, lmao.

Shrieks and laughter filled the air as the children played in Coolley Lake. It was a hot and sunny day, Nia had to shield her eyes to protect them from the rays of sunshine. She stood by the lakeside, not too far away from Sulya and his friends and couldn’t help but smile as she watched the kids play and splash each other with water. Next to her stood Mòrag, as per usual with her hands behind her back and a little distance away from them was Dromarch, lying on the green grass. Brighid sat by his side, reading a book.

“Watching them like this makes you wanna jump right in and join them, ey?”, Nia said.

“I had a feeling you’d say that.”, Mòrag replied without taking her eyes away from the water. “So much for not getting side-tracked.” She sounded rather accusatory.

“Aww, come on. Can you really call it “side-tracked” when the others are taking care of the original task?”

She saw the corner of Mòrag’s mouth curve slightly upward.

“You can be very persuasive at times.”, the Ardainian commented. “Not what I expected from the impression you left after our first meeting.”, she added amused.

Nia knew exactly that Mòrag insinuated at the fact that she had so easily told her Rex’s and Pyra’s names after she had been taken captive. Admittedly, that had been a very dumb thing to do, but back at the time Nia had simply not been used to calling the duo her friends – had not even really considered it at that point in time. ”That was just a blunder.”

“Of course.”, Mòrag simply said and Nia couldn’t tell whether she was being genuine or sarcastic. She stared at the military woman with narrowed eyes, but Mòrag just continued to keep watch over the lake, just as she had promised. Or rather, just like Nia had promised.

 

It had all started when they had re-encountered Moui in Torigoth. He had told them how the Militia had its hands full, now that refugees from Indol had started to seek asylum in Gormott. They needed materials to build accommodations, helpers for collecting food and much, much more. Rex and the party had agreed to go to Nocclia Timber Site and get good quality wooden boards, seeing how there was no one available to do so.

The task itself was easy enough actually, the party knew the way since they had visited the location quite a few times, but there was one thing in particular that had made the task unexpectedly tiresome:

The warm weather.

Bright sunshine, clear blue sky with no cloud in sight – it could have been so wonderful, but instead it turned a simple errand into an arduous hike.

Tora was the first to yield, claiming the he could go no further and demanded Poppi to carry him. Poppi, who had been much stricter with him ever since her second upgrade, hadn’t been very impressed; instead she had told him that she would continue to do as he told her the first time and not carry him in her arms again.

It was then when Nia suggested that they could walk along Coolley Lake and Mòrag had expressed her scepticism openly, that they would get side-tracked if they passed by the lake. What convinced her was Nia’s claim that they could cut some way if they used the nearby roots to move upward the plain.

It had been impossible to not approach the water under such circumstances.

They had found the children playing near the waterside. It was Sulya who had approached them first, a boy Rex, Tora and Nia had helped out by collecting Buoyweed so that he could learn how to swim properly.

Sulya had told them excitedly of his progress and the fun he had had with his friends and how he had wanted to share this joy with the refugee children in order to distract them from all the bad that had been going on in the world lately. So he had gone around the Ardainian base camp in Torigoth and convinced the children to go with him and his friends. He had no problem convincing everyone, seeing how it had been very hot already in the morning.

Quite the admirable thing to do for a boy his age, Mòrag had commented and Sulya had been very happy to hear the praise, but a moment later his expression fell and he told them of his worry that more children could attract an especially hungry monster, since they made more noise and could be spotted much more easily too.

Nia had almost quite literally jumped at the opportunity: “Don’t you worry about that. I will watch out for you kids and if anything happens I can patch you up, no problem.”

“Nia, you are our healer, you can’t just leave…”

“And what if a monster comes you can’t take on your own? Someone with a little more muscle should stay with you. ”

Nia had dismissed Rex’s concerns quite easily. He had Nim and Zeke Ursula after all, two perfectly capable healing blades – besides, there was no strong monster on the way to the Timber Site; they had been there so often, by now they would have surely noticed if that claim was untrue.

She couldn’t argue with Zeke’s argument that it would be better if it was at least two of them, just in case an unexpectedly strong monster appeared – it was a valid concern after all. Nia had admitted so herself – and just when Zeke thought he had won himself a free day at Coolley Lake, Nia walked right towards Mòrag and grabbed her by the arm, much in the same way Pandoria often did with Zeke, a backhanded smirk on her face.

“I think Mòrag has all the muscle I will need.”

 

Mòrag sighed when she recalled the ordeal that had followed: Zeke, of course, had complained the loudest and Rex timidly suggested that poor Tora would need the place near the cool water more – Mòrag had even agreed with him.

It still eluded her how Nia had actually managed to convince the boys to go with her proposed allocation – and why she had been so intent that Mòrag stayed with her in the first place.

Nia’s gaze was still upon her. She was quite persistent, that much was for sure.

“Is there something you want to tell me with that intense stare of yours?”, Mòrag finally asked and looked at her.

“Noo, not at all.” Finally, she realized that she couldn’t faze Mòrag, so she dropped the act and turned towards the children again. “Don’t you think that we should use the opportunity and join them?”

“You can do that if you want. I will do what you promised and look out for potential danger.”

Nia sighed defeated. “You’re taking this very serious, aren’t you…” She said and crossed her arms. “It’s not like anything dangerous lives nearby.”

Mòrag decided to not comment on her words any further.

“Fine, if you don’t want to jump into the nice cool water on a hot day like this, then be my guest.”, Nia eventually said and with a few practiced hand movements she removed her footwear.

“Are you actually going to remove your overall?”, was Mòrag’s surprised reaction when Nia fidgeted with her suit.

“Why do you think I insisted you stay with me?” Nia grinned victoriously. “I’d rather not get stared at by the guys.”

That explained a lot. “A perfidious plan.”, Mòrag commented, successfully suppressing an amused smile.

Nia let her suit slide down her shoulders, which revealed unexpectedly frilly underwear. For some reason Mòrag had expected something less girly – not that she had thought much about it. But pink… she subtly averted her gaze from Nia and back to the playing children – why was she even wasting so many thoughts on this?

“Oi, Dromarch! Get in here!”, Nia called her blade. She ran towards the lake and jumped in without a care. Water splashed and hit the children nearby who in response laughed out loud.

Dromach heeded her call and exchanged a short gaze with Brighid who only nodded at him. He then stood up and entered the water in a much more refined manner and without any splashing.

“Can we ride on him?”, a young girl asked Nia.

“Sure, he doesn’t mind.”

“Yaaay!”, the child cheered and immediately she swam towards the white tiger and clumsily tried to climb on his back by grabbing his fur. His ears twitched when she hurt him, but he endured it patiently.

“I want too!”, Sulya exclaimed.

“Me too! Me too!”, the others chimed in.

“My lady, I can’t possibly carry them all…”, Dromarch mumbled quietly towards her.

Nia’s ears flicked, a sign that she had heard him. With a smirk she crossed her arms and turned to the kids. “Alrighty then! If you wanna ride on my blade you will have to go through me first!”

The children got in position. “You asked for it, lady!”, an Urayan boy shouted and pushed some water towards her.

Nia remained unimpressed. “Oh, please.” She swept one of her arms in the water, causing a wave to wash towards them.

The three Gormotti children and their five friends shielded themselves with their arms, but the attack wasn’t as bad as expected. Now all of them started to push the water towards Nia with the palm of their hands and Nia in return tried to retort with some splashing of her own. The Gormotti girl sitting on Dromarch cheered for Nia, since she didn’t want to give up her space on his back.

“Something tells me that those children could take me down easily if I were to join them.”, Brighid commented the scenario with a little smile.

“The terrain is certainly not to your advantage.”, Mòrag agreed. It was hard to keep a serious expression when she watched the battle unfold. “Still, how can she be so carefree with all that is happening around us?” Her expression turned pensive the longer she watched Nia struggle to fight against eight children at once. They had surrounded her now and doused her from all sites. At some point she gave up and just tried to shield her face from the onrush of water.

Brighid watched her driver thoughtfully. “I don’t know. I share the same sentiment as you, Lady Mòrag. Sitting here feels like a waste, if I am being honest.”

Her driver couldn’t help but agree. While she saw the benefit in helping out the Militia – or support similar important tasks – she still couldn’t shake the thought that the World Tree was where they were supposed to be. And they certainly shouldn’t be splashing about in the water.

“Phew, those kids are not to be underestimated.” Completely drenched, Nia clumsily walked out of the lake again. She shook her head to get rid of the excess water in her hair and unbeknownst sprayed Mòrag and Brighid with it. The fire blade winced almost unnoticeably.

“Are you just going to leave Dromarch in their hands?”, Mòrag asked.

As if to accentuate her scepticism the children started to argue about who would be the next one to ride on Dromarch’s back. The Gormotti girl who sat on him was trying to shove everyone who dared climb onto his body back in the water. Complains were shouted and a few especially eager boys tried grabbing on as tight as possible, while they tried to pull the girl from his back.

Nia heard all of this but she only smirked and stroked a few strands of hair out of her eyes. “He will survive.”

“You certainly seem to enjoy yourself.”, Mòrag commented dryly.

“On a day like this, how could I not?”, Nia replied. ”You should really join us.”   

“I will pass.”

“Oh, come on, Mòrag. Get that stick outta your –“ Nia halted, remembering that there were children within earshot. Sure, they were occupied but it was better to be safe than sorry. “…hat.”, she ended lamely.

Brighid chuckled, while her driver seemed unfazed.

Nia frowned. “What’s going on?” Mòrag was always the serious one in the group; composed and down to earth, that was nothing unusual, but Nia noticed that she had sounded very dismissive ever since they had left the others – and that was not typical for her at all.

“It is nothing.”

As if Nia believed such a lazy lie. “Do you take me for a fool?” She crossed her arms. “What has you in such a foul mood?”

“What would make you think that I am in a bad mood?”, Mòrag returned the question and just as Nia was about to answer that, she paused. There were no real indicators of her mood. Mòrag stood there as always, with her hands behind her back and just because she didn’t join them in the water didn’t mean that she was angry or anything similar. If anything, Mòrag focusing on her duty was probably the most normal thing on Alrest.

Nia glanced towards Brighid, who decided to stay out of this and feigned disinterest in the conversation by watching poor Dromarch struggling to carry six children at once.

“It’s just… a feeling.”, Nia then answered. “I can’t put my finger on it, but I know that you are not exactly enjoying yourself here.”

“Hm, I see.” Mòrag was impressed, because no one except Brighid and Niall was able to tell how she was feeling at any given time. For that feat alone she decided to be honest with Nia. “I feel like we are wasting our time here.”, she said frankly.

Nia’s eyes widened when she realized that she had gotten Mòrag to speak the truth. “Why? We are protecting the children _and_ can cool down in the water instead of becoming braised meat in this heat.”

“You do realize that the titans have gathered around the World Tree and that there is a war raging on? How can you focus on something so insignificant, _enjoy_ yourself even, when the fate of the world is pressed on our shoulders?”

“Hey, when we collectively agreed to check up on all the nations we visited you didn’t object.”, Nia reminded her. “We would have continued our marry way if you had done so – so why does it only now occur to you that what we are doing is insignificant?”

“There is a difference between big tasks, like helping out Torigoth’s militia deal with the onrush of fugitives – and a small one like splashing around in a lake because some children asked us to. Because if we save the world, the problem of Indol being gone and the refugees having no home to return to would still persist. With one task, we try to ensure a peaceful future when all the fighting is said and done – but I cannot say that it is the same for _this._ ”, she made a sweeping gesture which included all of the lake and the children.

“Oh, come on. What if some monster comes, attracted by their shrieks, and decides to eat them in one fell swoop? We can’t have that, children are the future, you know?”

“I think you are forgetting that I am familiar with Gormott’s geography – and well aware of the fact that no carnivorous animals have their habitat nearby.”

“Ugh.” This little statement made Nia take an unconscious step back. She averted her gaze, trying to come up with what was probably another lame excuse. “You are a real handful…”, she murmured while she rubbed the back of her head in deep thought. She seemed to be wanting to say something, still, but Mòrag spared her the breath: “Do what you want Nia, but do not expect me to share your carefree attitude or partake in your antics.”

This was Mòrag’s last word on that matter. She passed by Nia, approaching the lake a little more to have a better look on the opposite coast.

Nia stomped with her foot on the ground, but she couldn’t come up with any words that could have hit back at Mòrag’s arguments. Just because she made the best of this opportunity didn’t mean that she forgot about the war or that she didn’t take it serious enough! It was quite the opposite, but how could she properly explain herself? That Mòrag dared accuse her of such a thing made her angry. She fidgeted on the spot, unsure on how to resolve this. Eventually, she decided to cool down and return to the water.

Mòrag watched on as Nia swam towards Dromarch and shooed the children off his back. They were reluctant to leave at first, but after saying something Mòrag couldn’t make out because of the distance, they left quite willingly and she took her place on his back again. Dromarch then proceeded to swim back towards the coast Brighid and Mòrag where at. His movements seemed to have awfully lot of purpose for just a lazy swim.  
By the time Nia materialized his Twin Rings in her hands it was already too late for Mòrag to react properly. Dromarch used his Wild Roar art and the ether pushed all the water in front of him in a towering wave towards Mòrag.

Mòrag’s first instinct had been to wield Brighid’s Whipswords to counter any potential attack – but Nia had never intended to do any harm, no, she had just wanted to shower her team mate with a big load of water. Unfortunately, Mòrag realized this only when the water had already drenched her.

“Whoo!! You got her real good!”, an Ardainian boy cheered.

Mòrag’s fingers twitched. Two could play this game. She summoned Finch’s hammer in her swords’ stead, while at the same type the green-feathered girl materialized out of the ether next to her.

“You rang?” Finch asked.

But Mòrag did not pay any attention to her and waded into the water. Finch cocked her head curiously behind her, but then she shrugged and decided to just roll with whatever her driver was up to. Not that she knew what was going on most of the time anyway.  
  
“Uh-oh.”, Nia only made. Mòrag was moving _way_ too calm – but the hammer in her hands was a tell-tale sign that she wasn’t planning on tolerating the unplanned shower.

When Mòrag deemed herself close enough she raised the hammer above her head.

“Mountain Crusher!”

With those words she dropped the hammer with powered up force onto the water’s surface. A big wave originated from that move and just like Nia’s before it towered over her and the group of children before it broke down over their heads and doused them.

The children laughed and cheered at that, welcoming the change from the calm water the lake usually had to offer for this fun ride. Nia on the other hand was not amused. She rubbed the water out of her eyes and stared defiantly at Mòrag and Finch.

“That’s how you wanna do it, yeah?” She summoned an ether cannon and suddenly KOS-MOS appeared behind her on Dromarch’s back. Red eyes blinked once, before the newly summoned blade had already assessed the situation.

“You are in need of my support, master?”, her monotonous voice asked.

“Hell yeah, give me everything you got.”, Nia told her while she took aim.

“Affirmative.”, KOS-MOS only replied.

“My lady, I feel like you are over-exaggerating here…”, Dromarch noted with a worried gaze.

Nia patted his shoulder. “Oh, you know it’s gonna be fine, this is Mòrag after all.” The only mortal Nia knew who had deflected a blast from the Monoceros’ canons as if it had been _nothing_. “Besides, I’m not aiming directly at her…”, she added and leaned over his shoulder to let the ether canon halfway into the water.  
  
“Breach shot!”, the Gormotti driver shouted while the cannon released a blast of ether. The force was so strong that it pushed Dromarch and his riders back. Again, the shot created new waves of water by its sides while it blasted towards the Ardainian. The children did not care about the dangerous display of power at all. They were all fired up for the battle that was about to ensue.

Finch disappeared and suddenly T-Elos appeared in her stead. Mòrag used her greataxe to deflect the shot towards the sky.  
“If you wanted to douse me again then you used the wrong tactic.”, Mòrag scoffed.

“Oh?”, Nia perked her ears up and held a hand up to one of them, as if she hadn’t heard right. “Is that a challenge I hear?”, she replied mockingly.

Mòrag’s only reply was to swing the greataxe towards the water.

Nia traded her ether cannon for Floren’s bitball, ready to chug it right into the Ardainian’s face…  
 

* * *

  
“Damn, you sure know how to get your payback.”, Nia couldn’t help but chuckle as she lay down in the grass and stretched her arms and legs lazily.

Mòrag accepted her statement with a satisfied smile. Since Nia had wetted her uniform earlier on, she had decided to take it off and put it onto the ground so that it could dry in the sun. She didn’t feel too comfortable baring herself as much as Nia, so she had kept the white shirt she wore underneath her uniform on her.

“As if I’d tolerate such an insult without retorting with an attack of my own.”

“Hehe, yeah, you got us real good.” Nia couldn’t wipe the smile off her face, as she watched Mòrag undo her hair. “Glad I got you to finally let your hair down – and that not only in the literal sense.”

Mòrag combed through her hair with her fingers as best as she could, but they were not a good substitute for a proper brush. “Why was this so important to you?”

She looked so different with her hair down and with her amused smile… Nia blushed. Mòrag looked way prettier than usual and so much less… threatening.  
“Because you are too serious all the time, I thought it would be a good change of pace.” She averted her eyes bashfully, pretending to look at a nearby daisy. “Don’t you feel kinda good after our little water fight?”

“I will admit, it does feel nice to sit here in the grass and relax.” She leaned back and laid down sideways, supporting her head with her right hand. She watched Nia for a few moments, her brown eyes lingering on the Gormotti’s core crystal.

“You know, about what you said earlier…”, Nia began.

“You needn’t apologize, Nia. I kind of understand now where you were coming from.”

Nia shook her head slowly. “No, not that – when you compared being here with what the guys are doing to help out the Militia; you said you could see the importance of their task, because it would have a positive impact even after the war since the accommodations would be needed then too.”, she explained.

“What I couldn’t put into words back at that moment, was that I feel the same with these children.” She paused and changed her position from lying on her back to lying on her side so that she could face Mòrag properly. “You are right. This world is at war and it is terrible and already affecting so many citizens. And the thing is that a lot of people change for the worse when times are desperate: they loot, they kill – they try to gain advantage and survive. Even if that means betraying friends and family.”

Her gaze turned pensive and Mòrag remembered that Nia’s father had sold all of his possessions in his desperation to find a cure for his sick daughter. Before Mòrag could reply, Nia continued her words: “But Sulya, Sulya’s first instinct was to take the refugee kids swimming. To teach them something he himself had struggled with for a long time and to distract them from the world’s terror. He refuses to let despair take over – and that’s a bloody admirable trait to have and that not only because he is a kid.”

Mòrag listened intently until she finally agreed with a nod. “I never thought of it like that.”, she admitted.

“Yeah, and it made me angry that you thought I didn’t care enough and just used this as an excuse to have some fun while the others work their asses off. They do an important job – but we do too. We showed those kids that we listened to their request and that their concerns matter to us, no matter how real the threat was or not. They deserve to know that they are heard – it is our reward to them for being brave; this way they will continue to do so.” Nia paused and watched over Mòrag’s shoulder. The children had all made themselves comfortable on Dromarch’s sides and his back. Everyone slept soundly in the warm afternoon sun, Brighid was amidst them, a satisfied smile on her lips. “Some adults could really learn a thing or two from them.”

When Mòrag saw the content smile on Nia’s face, she couldn’t help but smile too. “I apologize for doubting your intentions. I once again underestimated you.”

“Ha, you better.” Nia flashed her a grin and moved a bit closer. “Anyway, I’m too lazy to walk back to Torigoth right now. Let us enjoy the sun for a little while longer, ey?”

Mòrag closed her eyes and rested her head on the ground too. The sun felt comfortably warm on her naked legs and head. They didn’t need to hurry since they had made plans to meet with the others at Coedwig inn whenever they’d finish their respective tasks. Maybe it wasn’t a bad idea to take a step back every now and then to take a break from all the fighting. How often had Brighid told her that she would never be able to fight constantly if she didn’t take care of herself too every once in a while? And today, Nia had showed her this very same thing in her own way.

Suddenly, she felt something touch her chest.

Mòrag opened her eyes again and saw that Nia had already fallen asleep, blissfully unaware that she had moved in so close that her head was touching the other woman now. Mòrag smiled softly and patted the Gormotti between her ears.

She turned to look at Brighid. The flame blade already knew what her driver wanted to say: “Don’t worry, I will keep watch while you rest.”

“Thank you.” Mòrag closed her eyes again and rested her head on one of her arms, while she put the other around Nia. A warm breeze wafted and brought the smell of dry grass and Nia’s hair to her. She fell asleep with a tranquil smile on her face.  
  


* * *

 

  
By the time Nia awoke the sun had almost set. Only barely did the last rays of sunlight reach her face and she furrowed her brows because she did not feel like waking up just yet. “Mhm…”, she made and lazily stretched the arm she wasn’t lying on, eyes still closed.

“Hm?” Said arm was resting on something that was not grassy ground. She patted the spot with her hand and found a toned set of abs.  
  
_…?_

The gears of Nia’s mind rattled for a few moments, all the while her hand was still absentmindedly inspecting this discovery.

“Having fun?”, Mórag’s voice asked amusedly.

_!!_

Nia opened her eyes wide and immediately pushed herself of the ground and scooched a few inches away from Mòrag, face red as a tomato.  
The Special Inquisitor was lying on the ground, still with only her dress shirt on – under which Nia had felt said set of muscles she hadn’t expected. She did _not_ remember falling asleep huddled up close to the other woman!

Mòrag did not comment any of this, she just looked smug and entertained. “You’ve got a sunburn.”, she noticed.

“What?” Nia blinked and then she looked down on herself. Since she had slept on her side only an unequal part of her skin was glowing red. Namely her left arm, her chest and the left side of her upper body, except for that one stripe above her hip which was suspiciously about as broad as someone’s arm. Oh boy.

“Are you shitting me?? It’s not even equal!” She stood up to examine the damage further. Yup, her legs were about the same. She tugged a bit at her bra to compare her skin with a part that hadn’t been burned. “Oh boy.”, she said, this time aloud. She was going to regret that later, wasn’t she? She looked around for her suit and found it a few feet away.

When she turned her back to Mòrag to walk to her clothes, the Special Inquisitor let out a laugh.

Sensing that this had something to do with her, Nia turned around with an indignant expression. _“What?”_ , she asked sharply.

“Your… your back.”, Mòrag managed to get out, trying to hide a grin behind one of her hands. Nia’s back was bright red, except for the spot she had placed an arm around when they had fallen asleep.

Nia didn’t need to look to know that it was bad. She felt it. “Oh, shut it!”, she shouted and put her suit on. She hissed when the cloth rubbed against her burned skin. Yup, she was already regretting it. “How come you are fine?!”, she complained.

Mòrag also decided to put her clothes back on and stood up. “Maybe because I didn’t sleep almost naked in the middle of the day?”

“But… but, your legs…” They had been bared and looked just fine.

"I don't get sunburned easily.", Mòrag just said as she grabbed her pants of the ground and checked if they were dry.

 _Is that an Ardainian thing?_ Nia wondered as she watched her. When the Special Inquisitor bend down, the dress shirt she wore got pulled up a little and revealed black panties. The Gormotti blushed a bit. Nothing special, no frills or anything, but part of Nia was surprised that she did not see the Ardainian emblem embroidered on them.

She snorted at the image and Mòrag turned to her. "What?"

"Nothin'..." Nia tried very unsuccessfully to hide a smirk and averted her gaze from the distractingly skimpy clothed Ardainian by watching the evening sky instead. She loved the transition from day to night time, when the sky was red and dark blue at once and the clouds a pastel pink. So many stars were already visible, even though it wasn't fully dark yet.

"Beautiful...", she whispered awestruck.

She heard Mòrag chuckle amusedly. "I see you have taken a liking to certain... _ass_ ets of mine."

Nia's ears perked up and she turned around again. "What asse -" Wait. Wait, wait, wait. Was Mòrag indicating that Nia had been staring at her... – and making a pun out of it too?!

"I was not staring at your behind!"

"I never implied that.", the Ardainian simply replied, her smirk undermining her words, as she put on her armoured belt and her uniform. To Nia's surprise she left the jacket unbuttoned. "But if that's where your mind wandered..."

Nia just scowled at her. "Oh you...!" She was about to pounce the other woman, but stopped mid-movement because her sunburn decided to make itself noticeable again. She supressed an "ouch" and grunted. "Anyway, where is the rest?"

"Hm.", was the only thing Mòrag said. She put her hairclip back in her hair, but instead of putting it in a bun again, she continued to keep her hair down. Now that it had dried in the sun it was a bit wavy. Together with the unbuttoned jacket her look was almost casual now. Nia found herself staring at the other woman longer than necessary.

Mòrag pretended to not notice and instead looked at the lakeside for her blade and the children. "I see them.", she said and Nia was pulled out of her mesmerisation.

"Yeah?" She followed Mòrag's line of sight and indeed, she spotted the group nearby. They had walked around the lake and were quite a bit further down the spot they had slept at.

The sun had set fully by now, which made it hard to discern the kids’ shapes, Brighid on the other hand was even easier to spot in the dark, as well as the glowing crystals on Dromarch’s breast plate.

“Wonder what they are doing over there…” Nia narrowed her eyes, but it didn’t really help improve her vision.

“Let’s see for ourselves.”, Mòrag suggested.

Nia nodded and together they walked along the lake towards their blades and the children.

Nia’s back hurt. The legs and arms were not as much of a problem because her suit had puffy sleeves and legs, but whenever her skin rubbed against the clothes… She grimaced.  
The night could have been so beautiful otherwise. The scorching heat had yielded when the sun had disappeared from the sky and now the temperature was pleasant and every once in a while a fresh breeze wafted.

She heard the crickets sing and felt at peace.

“So, what is it you wanted to show us?”. Brighid asked Sulya with an amused smile.

“Just wait a little longer, they should come out any minute now!”, the boy answered excitedly. His three Gormotti friends were eagerly agreeing with him. The Urayan and Ardainian boys, as well as the three fugitive Gormotti children did not know what the others where referring to.

Dromach chuckled. Having lived in Gormott for a very long time he had a very good idea what the quartet was waiting for.

Mòrag and Nia approached the group with curious expressions. “What are you doing here?”, Mòrag inquired.

“Waiting!”, Sulya replied with a grin.

Mòrag rose an eyebrow. “For what?”

“I’d like to know myself.”, Brighid replied, but she stayed patient for the children’s sake.

Nia looked around and when she spotted a yellow light, she smirked. “Ohhh, I see now.”

“Hm?”, Mòrag turned towards her fellow driver and followed her line of sight, but that wasn’t necessary anymore.

Slowly, the fireflies came out of their hiding. They arose from the grass and the flowers around them, first only a handful, then they grew in number: ten, thirty, fifty… hundred, thousands. At some point their numbers became uncountable. All of them were small, glowing yellow orbs in the air.

The children who hadn’t known what awaited them widened their eyes, struck with awe. Even Brighid herself seemed stunned by the sight, her mouth a bit open while she reached her hands out. Mòrag just stared at the scenery in front of her, all the little lights reflecting in her eyes.

Nia and the native Gormotti children grinned proudly and Dromarch also had a smile on his face.

“Beautiful, ey?”, Nia asked Mòrag.

“Indeed…”, the Ardainian answered without averting her eyes from the sight. “I grew up at Lake Yewtle, but I’ve never seen this many fireflies before.” When a firefly came near her she reached a hand out, fascinated by its twinkling. The insect flew away when she came closer.

Nia chuckled. “That’s not how you do it.”, she said and suddenly she reached her arms out and clapped her hands together over the nearest couple of fireflies.

“Nia!”, Mòrag was appalled.

Nia laughed gleefully. “Hahaha, oh, Mòrag.” She brought her hands close again and turned to the other driver. “Look.” When she opened them again, she released three perfectly unharmed fireflies into the air again. “The trick is to fold your hands a bit and put them together in an x shape.”, she explained with a grin.

Mòrag just stared at the released fireflies. “I… I see.”

“Tsk, as if I would kill them.”, the Gormotti driver reprimanded her jokingly.

The fugitive kids, fascinated by that demonstration, decided to follow Nia’s example.

“Woah, it works!”, a boy shouted and he seemed even more fascinated when he got to see one of those pretty little bugs up close.

Even Brighid gave in to the temptation and slowly folded her hands to bring a firefly up close to her face. “Fascinating…”

“Fireflies are often seen in wooded areas that possess a clear source of water.”, Dromarch explained to her.

“Heh, so that’s why we don’t have them in Mor Ardain…”, the flame blade replied and offered the little critter to Dromarch, who watched it fly away with his bright blue eyes.

Nia watched the kids catch fireflies with a melancholy smile on her face. “You know, I used to catch a bunch of them every summer and keep them in a jar.”, she told Mòrag.

“That sounds kind of cruel…”, the Ardainian commented carefully.

“Don’t worry, I poked holes in the lid.”, Nia added. “And I released them a night or two later and caught new ones instead.”

“Well, that is reassuring.”, Mòrag commented, a little smile on her face now. She imagined how a small Nia chased after the bugs each summer night and found it an adorable image. She knew that this wasn’t how it went down, since Nia was a blade and had never looked any younger than she did here and now, but Mòrag sometimes still found it hard to see Nia as anything else than a normal person. She often forgot that Nia was a Flesh Eater if she wasn’t in her blade form.

“Yeah, my sister loved them. She would have been sad if they had died so I made sure I kept them alive.” There was a wistfulness in Nia’s smile now.

Mòrag watched her thoughtful expression for a few moments and got the feeling that Nia had entrusted her with one of her precious memories from the past, which surely was a rare occasion as it must have hurt her to reminiscence. “I used to watch them.”, she then said, in an attempt to share something from her past too.

“Oh?”, Nia seemed curious.

“Since we were of royal blood, my brother and I had always lived a sheltered life here. We had servants whose task it was to teach and watch us. We were never allowed to leave the mansion without a chaperone.” Looking back at that carefree time brought a certain strange of peace to her. “That’s why we always snuck out as soon as we got the chance.”

“Hehe, little rebels, weren’t ya?”, Nia commented with a cheeky grin.

“It’s how it usually goes with these things.”, Mòrag replied amused. “We would go down to the lake and other children from the village would join us. We would tire ourselves out with playing and swimming and only when night had fallen we would sit down and rest by watching the fireflies together at the lakeside.”

“Just like today, huh?”

Mòrag nodded. “Just like today.” She examined Nia for a moment. “Will you join me?”

Nia tilted her head a bit, but then she understood and nodded and together they sat down by the lake and watched the lights lazily fly above the water surface. Behind them, they heard the children laugh and tease each other. Their happy and carefree voices gave their surroundings a tranquil and peaceful atmosphere.

Nia closed her eyes for a moment and enjoyed the soft breeze, as well as the crickets’ song. Under these circumstances it was too easy to forget that the world around them threatened to fall apart. Of course, they shouldn’t forget and they certainly shouldn’t take their burden lightly, but Nia had made the decision that tonight would be an exception.

“It’s a wonderful night.”, she said and she felt the urge to lean close to Mòrag, but then she remembered her sunburn and decided with a frown that it would be better if she just stayed how she was, with her legs stretched out in front of her and her arms by her sides.

“I would have never thought that I’d feel so… peaceful.”, Mòrag replied. “Despite all our burdens…”

Nia turned her head to her. The light of the fireflies illuminated Mòrag’s profile in the dark and the Gormotti saw the wistful glance in her light brown eyes. “Oi, don’t start with that now.” She poked the other woman with her elbow. “You’re ruining a moment here.”, she said with a playful smirk.

Mòrag smiled at that. “Apologies.”

Nia decided to forgive her. “For real though: our lives ain’t easy currently, so, if we find moments like this where we can put our worries to rest – even if it’s only for a little while… then we shouldn’t pass them up.”, she said. “It’s not like we could climb the World Tree and beat Malos up in the next few hours, so we might as well just stay here and enjoy ourselves.”

“You have a point.”, the Ardainian said and then she fell silent again, absentmindedly tugging a few strands of hair behind her ear. She gazed towards Nia and suddenly there was a very timid expression on her face.

Nia noticed that and rose an eyebrow and when Mòrag turned her attention towards the lake again, the Gormotti felt as if Mòrag had wanted to say something and decided last minute that she did not want to share her thoughts after all. Now, if there was something that Mòrag was too embarrassed to say… then of course Nia wanted to know what it was. She grinned slyly and moved closer. “Ey, what’s with that face?”, she asked.

“I don’t know what you’re referring to.”, Mòrag replied innocently.

“Ey, come on. We already established today that I can read you surprisingly well.” Nia leaned a bit closer, the smug grin becoming wider. “Tell me.” Her nose was only a few inches apart from Mòrag’s now.

Mòrag stared at her. At Nia’s golden eyes and her lips which were so unfamiliarly close… her heart started to race and she became _very_ conscious of their romantic surroundings. She cleared her throat and then slapped Nia in the back. “How’s your sunburn?”, she asked indignantly.

“Youch!”, the Gormotti mewled and tried to touch the spot that was hurting now. Though seeing how it was located on her back this was a futile endeavour. Then again, it probably would have made matters worse anyway if she had been successful. “What the hell?! Why would it be any better than before?!”

“I… thought that it may have occurred to you to heal your skin with your powers.”, Mòrag answered slowly. No, this wasn’t true, but a perfectly valid point which would derail the conversation from their initial topic – and distract Mòrag from the thoughts she had had when Nia had gotten too close.

Nia blinked. “Oh.” Really, why _hadn’t_ she thought of that? “Right, I could do that…” She lowered her gaze as she thought about it. She should do it and free herself from the pain, but then again… The sunburn was proof of a day well spent and while painful, it would be a pity to just erase it now that she thought about it. Yes, it was childish and silly, but there were worse things in life. Her skin would recover in a few days anyway. It made her feel human, and where would be the fun in living if she used her powers for every little ailment?

“Nah, you know what? I think I’m good.”

Mòrag was surprised. “How come?”

“I…” Nia scratched the back of her head sheepishly. “If it heals out naturally I’m gonna get tan.”, she lied, too embarrassed to share her actual thoughts.

The Ardainian laughed. “With some very interesting tan lines.”

Nia glared at her. “And whose fault do you think that is?”

“Yours, obviously.”

“Wha-?!” Nia was taken aback. “That was _your_ arm around my body!”, she hissed.

“Maybe you shouldn’t have gotten so close in the first place.”, Mòrag retorted.

“Well, excuse me for moving in my sleep. Not like I can help it!”

From somewhere not too far away Sulya caught bits and pieces of the argument. He frowned and looked up towards Brighid. “Why are they fighting, miss Brighid?”

Brighid sighed and supressed a lot of possible answers she had in mind.

Next to her, Dromarch let out an amused chuckle. “Because they are very good friends.”

Brighid stared flatly at him and Sulya cocked his head and crossed his arms, now more confused than before.

The night went on and when the kids finally started to get weary they just sat by the lake and watched the scenery.

“I think it’s time we left.”, Brighid told her driver then.

She and Nia had stopped bickering a while ago and had gone back to watching the fireflies in silence. Mòrag turned to her, clearly disappointed at the notion. “I… I see. I guess it is late after all.”

Nia seemed displeased too. “What? That’s bullshit, I used to stay outside up ‘til 3 am in the summers.”

Brighid gave them both a stern look and they closed their mouths instead of complaining any further.

“I fear these children have worn themselves out. We should accompany them back to Torigoth.”, Dromarch said. “They’d make easy targets for the monsters otherwise.”

“Ugh…”, Nia moaned. “Fine, fine…” She stood up and dusted the dirt off her suit. “Oi, kids!”, she called them and the group of nine looked towards her. “Time to scram!”, she announced while Mòrag stood up too.  
She was almost disappointed when none of them complained. They all stood up, surprisingly well-mannered and went up towards the two drivers and their blades.

“Oh, wait!”, Sulya said and caught as many fireflies as he could with one clap.

“What are you doing?”, the Ardainian boy asked.

“I wanna show the others!”, Sulya answered with a grin.

“Oh!”, a girl made. “I can show mommy!”, she exclaimed and also took a firefly with her.

This prompted the other children to do the same and it reminded Nia of herself. She grinned and caught a couple too, prompting Mòrag to look at her in confusion. “For the others. Gotta let them know what they missed out on.”

Mòrag placed her hands behind her back and tried to look serious. “That’s very cruel of you.”, she said and couldn’t stop the smile tugging at her lips.

Nia snickered and when everyone was finished they wandered through Gormott’s wilds, through the tall grasses and past by bunnits and other harmless monsters. The light of the World Tree and the moon illuminated their path. Mòrag had a hand on her whipswords at all times, just in case and because Nia was too busy to keep the fireflies in her hands, but nothing happened.

As soon as they reached Torigoth’s gates the children thanked them for watching out for them and hurried off to their friends and families.  
Nia waved absentmindedly at them and accidentally released the fireflies she had been holding. “Aww, no.”, was her only comment.

Mòrag was amused. “Maybe it’s better if we don’t rub it in their faces.”, she said as they continued their way to the inn.

Nia examined Mòrag from head to toe. “Oh, and you think they ain’t gonna notice your new getup?”

The Special Inquisitor halted, looking as if caught in the act, and buttoned her jacket properly. She also put her hair up underneath her hat, and while not perfectly neat it didn’t matter since the cap was hiding her hairdo.  
Mòrag cleared her throat. “There.” She couldn’t believe that she had actually forgotten to take notice of her outer appearance before they left the lake.

Nia noticed the Ardainian’s face turning pink and smiled slyly. “Man, you really enjoyed yourself back there.”

Mòrag closed her eyes for a moment. “I did.”, she admitted. When she opened them she smiled and it caught Nia off-guard because it was the fondest expression she had ever seen on the Ardainian driver. “Thank you.”

Nia was so flustered that she needed a moment to compose herself. She averted her gaze and rubbed the back of her head nervously. “N-no problem.”, incidentally she noticed that Dromarch and Brighid had disappeared. They walked in silence towards Windmill Plaza. All around them, Gormotti were enjoying this warm and peaceful night. Nia took a deep breath. It smelled of summer, an observation that made her feel strangely nostalgic and peaceful. Part of her did not want to return to the inn and go to bed already, but she also started to feel weary on the other hand.

Nia smiled. At least it was the good kind of weary. The kind of exhaustion that came from splashing and playing in the water and taking naps beneath the sun and from walking back home at night.

They found themselves in front of the inn.

Nia sighed. “Ugh, I’m sure sleeping with a burned back is gonna be fun…”

Mòrag just stared at her. “I still don’t know why you just won’t heal it.”

The Gormotti narrowed her eyes. “I just don’t wanna!”

Mòrag shrugged. “Well, in that case… I have a lotion that should help ease the pain. I can apply it to your back if you want.”, she suggested.

Nia blushed furiously at the thought of Mòrag’s hands on her body. And Brighid had disappeared too, so it would be just the two of them alone in the room… and she would have to take her suit off for this… Her heart started to beat faster and she grew very nervous all of a sudden.

“Nia?”, Mòrag asked. “Are you alright?”

“YES!”, the Gormotti shouted, a teensy tiny tad too loud. “I – I mean, thanks for the offer, I’m sure it will help.“, she added, trying to sound as calm as she could. Which was not a lot.

“Good, then… let’s go.” Seeing the Gormotti’s agitation made Mòrag nervous too. She didn’t know why exactly though… She had just offered a bit of help to a suffering friend… No second thoughts involved. None at all…

They exchanged a glance and slowly made their way towards Mòrag’s room.


End file.
